The Academic Programs

Historical development after World War II provided an
impetus to the introduction of teaching and research programs focusing
on Southeast Asia region in American higher education. Funded by the Ford
Foundation, the Southeast Asian studies program was inaugurated since
1954 to meet a national need and extensive interest in Southeast Asia
at the University of California, Berkeley. Chaired by Professor Woodbridge
Bingham, a Southeast Asia Studies Committee composed of Professors Thomas
C. Blaisdell, Jr., C.M. Li, Robert A. Scalapino, Mary R. Haas and Denzel
R.Carr were the founding members of the program with the support of Chancellor
Clark Kerr at the time. Academic courses were offered at the Departments
of Anthropology, Geography, Linguistics, Oriental Languages and Political
Science. Language training was especially emphasized in Indonesian (Malay),
Malayo-Polynesian linguistics, Thai and Vietnamese. Professor Mary R.
Haas undertook the monumental Thai-English dictionary project which was
operated through the Institute of East Asiatic Studies. Her Thai-English
Student's Dictionary first published in 1964 is still the definitive
work for Thai language studies today. Professor David Prescott Barrows,
the 9th President of the University of California from 1919 to 1923, lived
in the Philippines from March 1900 until 1906. During part of this time
he served as Secretary of Education for the Philippines government. While
in the Philippines he studied the country's history and did anthropological
field work. He taught Philippine History at Cal. Among his many books
is History of the Philippines. Barrows Hall was named after
him when the building was opened in 1963 on campus.

Berkeley offers undergraduate and graduate courses with a Southeast Asian
specialization in anthropology, Asian American Studies, Group in Asian
Studies, business, city and regional planning, economics, English, environmental
science policy and management, law, geography, history, linguistics, music,
political science, women's studies, etc. The
Department of South and Southeast Asian Studies established in 1972
offers a variety of courses in South and Southeast Asian civilizations,
languages, literature and religious studies. The Department confers the
Bachelor of Arts, Master of Arts, and Doctor of Philosophy in South and
Southeast Asian studies and as are the Bachelor of Arts, Master of Arts,
and Doctor of Philosophy with a Southeast Asian specialization in a number
of schools and departments.

The Center for Southeast Asia Studies

The Center
for Southeast Asia Studies was established on July 1, 1960, under
the chairmanship of Professor Guy Pauker for the development of research,
teaching and training facilities on Southeast Asia. It sponsors annual
Southeast Asian studies conferences, lectures, workshops during the academic
year and provides numerous opportunities to visiting faculty and scholars
from Southeast Asia and other parts of the world to work with Berkeley
faculty to promote interdisciplinary research and interaction in the region
of Southeast Asian studies.

The South/Southeast Asia Library

Berkeley's South/Southeast Asia Library (S/SEAL), formerly
known as the Reading Room of the joint Center for South and Southeast
Asia Studies, was integrated into 438 Doe Library in September 1970. S/SEAL
functions as the designated reference and bibliographical collection.
It has been relocated to 120 Doe Library since summer of 1998. It contains
an extensive reference collection of over 3,500 items including national,
general and specialized bibliographies, indexes, printed library catalogs,
dictionaries, directories, other reference and bibliographical works,
and full access to the library information system including local, regional
and international online catalogs, CD-ROM databases, and gateway to worldwide
web resources. The bulk of the South and Southeast Asia collections over
600,000 holdings is housed in the Gardner
Stacks and various specialized service points on the Berkeley campus.
S/SEALS also maintains a non-circulating collection of monographs of current
general interests, high-use newspapers and journals to support research
reference and information needs. S/SEAL offers 56 public services hours
a week during regular semesters and about 20 hours during intersessions
and summer sessions not only to the Berkeley primary clientele but also
to the Bay Area communities throughout California and the western United
States.

The Southeast Asia Collections

Historically, the Southeast Asia Collections at the University
of California, Berkeley were known as one of the finest collections in
the United States among the
Yale University Library, Cornell
University Library, and the Library
of Congress. They were the strongest research collections in the West
coast, with the emphasis on social sciences and humanities in western
and regional languages, covering both prewar and postwar periods on Southeast
Asia. The collections are quite influential in earlier western language
publications on Burma, the Philippines, and Indochina since the pre-second
World War period. The Library has an excellent run on annual reports of
the colonial administrators in Southeast Asia, including departmental
and other agency reports on Burma. Dutch colonial literature on Indonesia
is well represented, including all the major journals. In particular,
the Indonesia collection is one of the most comprehensive Southeast Asia
collections in this country. Berkeley participated in the Library of Congress
Southeast Asia Cooperative Acquisitions Program, formerly known as Public
Law 480 Program since its inception in 1964, under which it has received
more than 20,000 items including monographs, government documents, serials
and audio-visual resources. Since 1970, the collections on Malaysia, Singapore,
and Brunei have also been strengthened by The Library's full participation
in the Library of Congress Program for these countries.

The Southeast Asia Collections received a myriad of special collections
resulting from bequests and gifts. The Asia Foundation donated a large
number of works in Indonesian, Pali tripitaka in Burmese script, and other
rare items. The Bancroft Library
holds an extraordinary collection of Professor David P. Barrows including
monographs, diaries, manuscripts, photographs, maps and papers, and numerous
materials on the Philippines (1900-1909) dating from the period of his
post as Secretary of Education for the Philippines government there. Lawrence
P. Briggs, former U.S. Consul donated a substantial collection of
items on Indonesia, Indochina, and the Malay Peninsula. The McFarland
Family, one of the earliest and most important American missionary
families in Thailand, bestowed a preeminent archive of materials related
to Thailand between 1860 and 1950, including a valuable collection of
photographs taken at Angkor and other archaeological sites in Cambodia
and Thailand, dating back to 1878. The Swift
Family contributed a priceless collection of Buddhist palm leaf manuscripts
from Thailand. The Library also holds the invaluable photographs and artifacts
of material culture collected by early American scholars such as David
P. Barrows, R. F. Barton, Alfred Kroeber, and Bernard Moses. Located off
campus and directed by former U.S. foreign service officer Douglas Pike
is the Indochina Archive which includes over 300,000 items on the history
of the Vietnam War and contemporary Indochina and has been heavily used
by scholars all over the world. In addition, the Earth Sciences / Map
Library holds over 7,000 maps, atlases, gazetteers, and nautical charts
on Southeast Asia.